Page 15 of The Oracle's Journey

Lhoris pulled me out of my fog by slapping my cheeks, not hard, just enough to sting. “It turns out Rhyfon doesn’t like you after all, and we can’t have you colluding with your friends to attack poor Lobikno again. You’re stuck with me.”

“Why not one of the others?” I asked, but he didn’t answer.

Lhoris mounted his horse. Lobikno startled me, grabbing me at the waist and lifting me to sit in front of his brother. Their ease in picking me up like a child was still startling. Also painful.

“I can climb up here on my own,” I snarled at the sullen elf when my feet left the ground. His fingers dug into my ribs while gravity did its damndest to fight against his strength. Gasping, I kicked a leg over the horse too speed the process along before I ended up with a broken rib.

I glared at Lhoris over my shoulder. “If you don’t let my feet hit the ground occasionally, my muscles will atrophy,”

I knew my complaint didn’t make much sense, but I didn't care at that point. I was angry, tired, and felt incredibly helpless. The latter being the most distressing. I had to trust the Oracle’s advice and watch for the opportunity to escape.

“You think I’m turning you into a princess?” he asked drily.

His breath heated my ear as I settled between his thighs. I was a little uncomfortable with the intimacy of sitting so surrounded by him, but not because it was unpleasant. I found myself wanting to enjoy it. I couldn’t reconcile the sense of security I felt there with the reasoning part of my brain that said I should be wary. I wanted to stay angry while my ribs ached. What was wrong with me?

“No, I feel like you’re turning me into livestock,” I grumbled half-heartedly.

Shaking his head, he taunted me as the group started onward. “Oh, no. You’re too stubborn to be domesticated.”

That brought a little smile to my lips. “Is that a bad thing?”

Again, he didn’t answer. So, I asked a different question. “What were you doing earlier while riding? It was disturbing.”

“Hm?”

“The whole lot of you looked like you were … not present … in the here and now.”

“Ah, it’s a trance.” He must have seen the confusion in my face when I glanced back at him. “It’s a bit like meditation that restores the mind and body, though not as well as true sleep. Handy when you can’t afford to lose track of your environment.”

“Huh. Is it just a dark elf thing?”

Instead of replying, he tipped his head toward Rhyfon. I glanced over and the pale elf was indeed as vacant as the others had been earlier. “Could I do that?”

“I don’t know.” Lhoris shrugged. “I’ve never met a half elf that could, but I don’t know them all, obviously. You really don’t know much about elves, do you?”

I ignored his question. “I really wish I could do that trance-thing,” I groaned miserably.

“I’ll keep you from falling off if you want to try and rest,” Lhoris offered with a heavy sigh.

Lobikno scoffed somewhere behind us and fussed at Lhoris in their language. Lhoris ignored him and urged me to lean into him, arm around my waist. I relaxed and rested my head against the warm leather of his dueling vest then said, “Ya know, somebody really did steal most of our underwear.”

Lobikno

My idiot brother was going to get us both killed. I had hoped Lhoris would come to his senses. Even with most of the others in a trance, they won’t miss the signs of his weakness. I could only protect him so much from this persistent soft-heartedness. Lhoris had spent too long with the woodland people. I’d been the one to send him there but at the time, I didn’t realize it would cost him his survival skills. If he hadn’t pushed that deal with Dulanzo, I would have sent him back ages ago. His temperament was better matched there.But he’d never be allowed to escape the warband now, though. Too many bargains broken and made at this point.

I glared at the back of his head, while he coddled the halfie. We’d kept her tired for her own damn good and now he was trying to get her to rest? I hoped he could feel the burn of my eyes on his thick skull. He flipped me off over his shoulder. Ha!

But I had to let it go. We had other problems. The most immediate being that crew was going to turn on us tonight. And because nothing is ever simple with him, I knew Lhoris wouldn’t leave any of the women behind if we had to escape. I had to come up with a plan to get both of us and the women away, but I couldn’t see a clear path. We could go to the abandoned manor house we used as an occasional base, use the walls to obfuscate our departure with the prisoners, and then burn the building down with the rest of the crew trapped inside. But Dulanzo was in the opposite direction. Even these morons would know something was wrong. Lhoris assured me he would figure things out when we got to the next camp, to get a feel for the mental landscape or some bullshit like that. I suspected he was counting on the princess causing more mischief, sewing chaos, whatever it is she does.

When we arrived at camp a few hours later, it was up to me to bind the troublesome halfie, hand and foot, and watch over the other women while the crew went about setting up for the night. It didn’t take long. This was our regular campsite. The closest thing we had to home. Everyone had a place they liked to set up.

It was an area we cleared years ago, in the leeward protection of a stark rock wall at the base of the nearest mountain. We had brasiers for fire, a well for water, tables and stools, a thatched lean-to we could pile into when it rained, and a larger, second lean-to we used to shelter the horses. It was alright for the warmer months, though we’d be forced back into the underground fortress when winter came. The winds and snow were unpredictable. We would simply hunker down like everything else and wait it out.

I situated our captives against the rock wall for the time being. It was easier to watch my back if nobody could sneak up behind me. And the princess couldn’t sneak off as easily either. I could also occasionally glance over to watch Lhoris climb up a narrow set of stairs cut out of the looming rockface behind me, to hang a large red flag. It was the signal that we needed a meeting with Dulanzo.

We weren’t allowed near the fortress anymore. I assumed it was for spite, but Dulanzo claimed it was so we didn’t accidentally lead anyone back to his base from the human side of the mountains. Lhoris and I recognized it for what it was, though. A big red signal that we were there, sitting ducks for any other enemy passing by. We’d done well fighting off the few that came upon us in the past, but it was only a matter of time before our luck ran out.

But now I had to waste my attention on prisoners instead of watching for the knives coming at our backs. At least the maids were making themselves useful by preparing root vegetables and herbs for a soup with the dried venison rations. The princess, though, sat and rocked in place with her eyes closed, perhaps listening to the wind. Or maybe plotting another escape? There was no telling with that strange little creature. Maybe she was thinking about dropping a wasp nest on my head.

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